Aon plc (NYSE:AON) Stake Boosted by Artemis Investment Management LLP

Artemis Investment Management LLP increased its stake in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON - Free Report) by 9.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 168,901 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 14,292 shares during the quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP owned about 0.09% of AON worth $56,349,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AON. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AON by 1,555.1% in the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 16,700 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,414,000 after acquiring an additional 15,691 shares in the last quarter. Operose Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in AON in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $98,000. Mutual Advisors LLC acquired a new position in AON during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $577,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of AON by 145.0% in the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 214,951 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $69,691,000 after buying an additional 127,203 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in shares of AON by 99.5% in the third quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 11,432 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,706,000 after buying an additional 5,703 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company's stock.

AON Stock Performance

AON stock traded up $0.78 during trading on Friday, hitting $293.58. The stock had a trading volume of 1,282,066 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,312,499. The stock has a market cap of $63.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.91. Aon plc has a 1-year low of $268.06 and a 1-year high of $347.37. The company's 50 day moving average price is $289.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $302.80.

AON (NYSE:AON - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The financial services provider reported $5.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.86 by ($0.20). The business had revenue of $4.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.14 billion. AON had a net margin of 19.04% and a negative return on equity of 1,083.00%. The company's revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.17 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Aon plc will post 15.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AON Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st were issued a dividend of $0.675 per share. This is a positive change from AON's previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 30th. AON's dividend payout ratio is presently 21.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Lester B. Knight acquired 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $276.61 per share, for a total transaction of $2,766,100.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 139,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,448,790. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.15% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AON has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $311.00 target price on shares of AON in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of AON in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. They set a "neutral" rating and a $309.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of AON from $326.00 to $312.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Bank of America downgraded AON from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $345.00 to $306.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on AON from $325.00 to $327.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $321.86.

AON Profile

Aon plc, a professional services firm, provides a range of risk and human capital solutions worldwide. It offers commercial risk solutions, including retail brokerage, specialty solutions, global risk consulting and captives management, and affinity programs; and health solutions, such as health and benefits brokerages, and health care exchanges.